Does anybody know information about the tour operators organizing trip to South Pole from Argentina (by ice-breaker)? I couldn't find any on the web. I am planning to go end of this year. Thanks!

A friend of mine does really *off-beat* travel and she uses the National Geographic, Smithsonian and museums to go on these trips. Also, the NG or the NG Traveler have ads in them for these kinds of trips.

Check Galapagos Travel. They have a fantastic tour to Antartica one every two or three years. Please share your experiences on this board after you return

We went to the Antarctic this past February. We took the Marco Polo which is one of the Orient Lines' ships. Since it is a regular cruse ship, it had all the amenities but at the same (if not cheaper) price that the smaller Russian ice breaker ships do. The Marco Polo does have the capability to deal with ice bergs. They have regular trips from Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antartic from November to February. Orient Lines has a web page (www.orientlines.com) or you can call them toll free at 800-333-7300 and ask for a brochure which shoudl give you travel dates, prices and the layout of the ship. We did all our booking via phone and fax and had no problems doing it this way. The ship's capacity is usually around 800 but because of treaty regulations, the ship can only bring in a maximum of 400 passengers per trip. Since they maintain a full crew, this means that you get a lot of prompt attention and service because there are less passengers for the crew to take care of. The ship has a lounge, a dance club, a small casino, jacuzzi, exercise room, library and two boutiques. They have shows each night, daily lectures on flora and fauna, or if you prefer just staying in your cabin, they have fairly recently released movies on TV in addition to other TV feature programs. They also have arts and crafts sessions for those who are inclined. There are two restuarants to choose from and the menu and wine list have pretty good selections. The trips they take out to explore the various stopping points are headed by a variety of scientists with years of experience in the field. If you need more information let me know via this forum. We were so pleased with our experience that we hope to take this trip again sometime in the future. Have a good trip.

Sorry didn't notice the other part of your e-mail. Actually there are a couple of tour operators like Quark Expeditions which is based in Connecticut (we almost booked with them once but had to cancel our trip plans, they only use Russian ice breakers) and Abercrombie and Kent. If you do a search on the web asking for Antartica tour operators or trips to Antartica, you should be able to bring up some more names.